SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Saturday - July 10, 2021

Saturday - July 10, 2021

Lord what wilt Thou have me do? Behold the true sign of a totally perfect soul: when one has reached the point of giving up his will so completely that he no longer seeks, expects or desires to do ought but that which God wills.

--St. Bernard

July 10, 2021

Saturday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 388

 

Reading 1                                                     Gn 49:29-32; 50:15-26a

Jacob gave his sons this charge:

“Since I am about to be taken to my people,

bury me with my fathers in the cave that lies

in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

the cave in the field of Machpelah,

facing on Mamre, in the land of Canaan,

the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite

for a burial ground.

There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried,

and so are Isaac and his wife Rebekah,

and there, too, I buried Leah–

the field and the cave in it

that had been purchased from the Hittites.”

 

Now that their father was dead,

Joseph’s brothers became fearful and thought,

“Suppose Joseph has been nursing a grudge against us

and now plans to pay us back in full for all the wrong we did him!”

So they approached Joseph and said:

“Before your father died, he gave us these instructions:

‘You shall say to Joseph, Jacob begs you

to forgive the criminal wrongdoing of your brothers,

who treated you so cruelly.’

Please, therefore, forgive the crime that we,

the servants of your father’s God, committed.”

When they spoke these words to him, Joseph broke into tears.

Then his brothers proceeded to fling themselves down before him

and said, “Let us be your slaves!”

But Joseph replied to them:

“Have no fear.  Can I take the place of God?

Even though you meant harm to me, God meant it for good,

to achieve his present end, the survival of many people.

Therefore have no fear.

I will provide for you and for your children.”

By thus speaking kindly to them, he reassured them.

 

Joseph remained in Egypt, together with his father’s family.

He lived a hundred and ten years.

He saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation,

and the children of Manasseh’s son Machir

were also born on Joseph’s knees.

 

Joseph said to his brothers: “I am about to die.

God will surely take care of you and lead you out of this land to the land

that he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

Then, putting the sons of Israel under oath, he continued,

“When God thus takes care of you,

you must bring my bones up with you from this place.”

Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten.

 

 

Responsorial Psalm                                              105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7

 

R.    (see Psalm 69:33) Be glad you lowly ones; may your hearts be glad!

 

Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name;

    make known among the nations his deeds.

Sing to him, sing his praise,

    proclaim all his wondrous deeds.

R.    Be glad you lowly ones; may your hearts be glad!

Glory in his holy name;

    rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!

Look to the LORD in his strength;

    seek to serve him constantly.

R.    Be glad you lowly ones; may your hearts be glad!

You descendants of Abraham, his servants,

    sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!

He, the LORD, is our God;

    throughout the earth his judgments prevail.

R.    Be glad you lowly ones; may your hearts be glad!

 

Alleluia                                                                      1 Pt 4:14

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

If you are insulted for the name of Christ, blessed are you,

for the Spirit of God rests upon you.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel                                                                       Mt 10:24-33

Jesus said to his Apostles:

“No disciple is above his teacher,

no slave above his master.

It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher,

for the slave that he become like his master.

If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul,

how much more those of his household!

 

“Therefore do not be afraid of them.

Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed,

nor secret that will not be known.

What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light;

what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.

And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;

rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy

both soul and body in Gehenna.

Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin?

Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.

Even all the hairs of your head are counted.

So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Everyone who acknowledges me before others

I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.

But whoever denies me before others,

I will deny before my heavenly Father.”

 

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When You Walk Through a Storm

There's a song that has resurfaced from my teen years and is making my brain hum. It inspired me during teenage difficulties and it's inspiring me again now: You'll Never Walk Alone, by Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers.

I think most of us are getting very weary of waiting for God's victory over evil to be manifested in our families, in our nations, in our Church, and everywhere else that we've been covering in prayer. One of my waits has lasted 20 years with no end visibly in sight. What about yours?

When you walk through a storm

Keep your chin up high

And don't be afraid of the dark

At the end of a storm is a golden sky

And the sweet silver song of a lark

Walk on through the wind

Walk on through the rain

Tho' your dreamsBe tossed and blown

Walk on

Walk onWith hope in your heart

And you'll never walk alone

You'll never walk alone

When you walk through a storm

Hold your head up high

And don't be afraid of the darkAt the end of a storm is a golden sky

And the sweet silver song of a lark

Walk on through the wind

Walk on through the rain

Tho' your dreams

Be tossed and blown

Walk onWalk onWith hope in your heart

And you'll never walk alone

You'll never walk alone

As devoted followers of Christ, we keep pressing forward through the storms, knowing that he is with us. We never walk alone. In this Saturday's readings from Mass, he re-strengthens us: "Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.... So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

I think today is a good time to be reminded of this again. We never walk alone; Jesus is with us every step of the way, even though we cannot yet see the victory that he's leading us to -- closer and closer to it each day. And since there is nothing that soothes the soul as well as music does, be blessed by listening to this song. The video I selected for you unfolds a visual story that might even bring you to tears of faith.

Andrea Bocelli sings "You'll Never Walk Alone"
youtu.be/CP1_JQ1VPnw

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God Bless You.....

The Rosary Family

The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”